HPI RS32 Has Landed!

So at long last I got my hands on one of these and for a mere 90$ + shipping. Box is quite appealing as is the hard plastic, model-quality Calsonic R32 body.



Everything is packaged fairly well, nothing to complain about.





Now this is where RS car differs from the Kyosho Mini-Z- not only does it sport modular electronics seen in other scale R/Cs, but it also comes disassembled. Nothing is tricky in this car save being super-bite sized, but so are kyosho dNanos.





The car handles well, but could DEFINITELY use a little more speed and battery life. My guess is to use a Losi motor and/or lithium battery packs, perhaps from R/C helicopters.







Note that because these will go hand-in-hand with the new HPI slot car line, the details may surpass that of Mini-Zs, like rear view mirrors, for example.

New Mini-Z Atomic 90mm MidMount and DPS

Just got these in the past weekend, AR-265 and AR-265-BKDPS. Looks like Atomic only recently caught up to PN's idea of last year, the 90mm Mid Mount with a custom Damper Plate System.

Overall much more simple than the PN unit, not much heavier nor lighter, but it does have quite a few new elements. The DPS post only uses one spring now and does not attach to a bottom holder plate of any sort, but rather to the motor mount's DPS arm itself. The plastic plate gets pressed against the metal one, and it even has a little trough to hold a little bit of dampening oil better than the old, completely flat plates (maybe atomic always had this though, this is my first Atomic DPS/disks). Lastly there is an optional, bolt-on rear diffuser.

Mini-Z Painting & Detailing Hints and Tips

After doing miniatures, model kits, and various other paint jobs I've concluded that the RC bodies are the most demanding, but the right tools will yield a superb and durable finish. I'll make this brief and cut straight to the chase.



Tamiya acrylics tend to get rubbed and beat off of the Z bodies quite easily and will require frequent touch-ups, but are fairly easy to work with. Testors enamels surpass the oversea brother, but can end up too thick when sprayed on if the painter is a little careless or trigger happy. Both of these can be removed with simple acrylic or enamel thinners and some rubbing. Now, Testors Pactra Polycarbonate Coating sprays on in thin layers, yields very even and consistent finish, can withstand quite a beating and cannot be removed with some simple thinner. Furthermore, the ideal finish can be achieved with only 1 to 1.5 coats and up to 3 coats of paint will retain all of the details beneath them. If you mess up you have room for a primer and a recolor coat without endangering the finish.


Pactra Candy Purple and Testors Gold Enamel details

Whats the next step to completing your masterpiece? The details and trims. The weapons of choice now are:

Testors Enamel Paint Markers with user-trimmed tips prior to use that will ensure precision and control;



Micron archival ink pens because not only do they come in 0.2mm tip variety, but can withstand a glosscoat laquer easily unlike their competitors.



I've tested(from bottom to top) Micron, Sharpie, and Gundam Marker on top of white Pactra layer and topped with Testors Glosscoat with the following result-



So there you have it folks, for a clean, durable and professional RC body finish your friends are Pactra spray cans, Micron markers, and Testors enamel paint markers. Happy painting!

THE set of upgrades for Xmod Evo to steer it clear of trashcan.

Yes, 2.4 ghz radio thats in most cordless home phones and routers. Why? Any xmod owner should know how junky they are out of the box even for some home fun, but this upgrades makes it a semi-hobby grade RC.

Is JUST the radio enough? No because the chassis itself is far from flawless, so #2 on the list are GPM Adjustable Knuckles vs GPM's regular junky looking and working, 3-screw knuckles:






Now we have 0 wheel wobble and car is actually drivable on RCP track or anywhere else at high speeds, but is this enough? Not just yet.

Last upgrade- shaving the wheel pegs to fit Kyosho Mini-Z MA-010 rims.





And now the Xmod is complete. Drives very similar to a Mini-Z or any other quality RC. Can have different offset wheels to accommodate different bodies without looking funky. Has actually round, quality wheels and doesn't have to use xmod tires that are getting harder to come by. Lastly, can easily accept a drift tire kit for some slipping and sliding without buying an xmod-specific 15$ kit.

Xmods Are Back!

Radioshack's fully-customizable RCs are back after a few year break in pretty decent flavors- Mustang Boss, Corvette, and Skyline GT-R.

http://www.radioshack.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2032407&sr=1&origkw=xmods

For the most part same as the previous Evolution series with few exceptions listed in the wiki including built-in crystals(huge flaw since you'll be stuck with the frequency you buy) and supposed wheel stability improvement that the series suffered from since day one. I'll do a more in-depth look once I open and tune this sucker with all the $1 clerance parts from last year :D

And lastly my own new GT-R:



More unboxed shots and a mini preview:

http://i452.photobucket.com/albums/qq249/skv0124/Xmods/GTRhandson1.jpg
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Looks like there are no more body kits seeing how the GTR's body is solid. I see this as a somewhat of a good change since the cars will keep their authentic looks and only have internal mods- the ways it should be. Showmanship through performance rather than looks.